The use of clipless pedals has become popular with both road and mountain bike enthusiasts. There are two general types of clipless pedals, one for road bicycles and one for mountain bicycles. The difference is a result of the fact that mountain bicycle enthusiasts often have to walk and pull or carry their bicycles many times during a ride. Walking is difficult where traditional road style clipless pedals are used since the corresponding cleat that is secured in the clipless pedal extends from the sole of the cycle shoe. Mountain bike clipless pedals are designed to work with cleats that are recessed or flush with the sole of the cycle shoe, so walking is not seriously impeded, if impeded at all.
Clipless pedals allow the user to use energy more efficiently because the user's feet are fairly rigidly attached to the pedals. This allows the user to pull upwardly in the up stroke, as well as apply more force in the top-dead-center and bottom-dead-center pedal positions.
One drawback of clipless pedals is that usually only one type of clipless pedal is used on a bicycle at a time. If a user wishes to switch between a road style clipless pedal and a mountain bike style of clipless pedal, the road style pedals must be removed and the mountain bike style pedals installed.
Recently, combination pedals have been introduced that include a clipless pedal structure on one side and a standard pedal on the other. This allows the user to use one type of clipless structure with its attendant efficiencies on one side of the pedal, but then only use a standard pedal, with no special efficiencies, with the other side of the pedal.
There is lacking in the art a single pedal structure that allows one to use road style clipless pedal structure, mountain bike style clipless pedal structure, or a toe clip structure. This type of pedal would be particularly useful in an application on an exercise bicycle where users could thus choose the pedal style they are most comfortable with for their exercise session.
It is with the shortcomings of the prior art in mind that the modular load bearing field support system of the present invention has been developed.